The British gentleman's logo wears a top hat and holds an umbrella in his hand, where does it come from?
Originally, our impression of the English gentleman came from a crisp suit, a high top hat, and an umbrella in his hand, but in fact, the formal formation of this image is not far away.
Gentleman culture has evolved over a long period of time until what we see it now. "Gentleman"The term first appeared in English in 1413 to refer to a young and untitled member of the family of knights and barons, distinguishing it from a nobleman with a title.
However, the gentlemen at this time are not directly related to the gentlemen in our impression, they are part of the aristocratic class, so their culture is also aristocratic culture.
The main characteristic of this culture is the opposition to the ** and the pursuit of freedom, but also the pursuit of land, wealth and self-development. Of course, this aristocratic culture also included the chivalry that prevailed in medieval Western Europe, such as humility, honor, valor, sacrifice, mercy, honesty, justice, and spirituality.
During the reign of Henry VIII, England underwent a Reformation that led to the repossession of church lands by the king. At that time, the estates of the nobility were seen as a status symbol, so the new class and the lower gentry began to buy land from the king as a way to gain the respect of others.
For the mercantile bourgeoisie, who did not have a hereditary title, the purchase of land also became a way to elevate their status, and they presented themselves as "gentlemen", breaking the old definition of a gentleman.
In order to protect their own class interests, the bourgeoisie, which can barely be counted as a gentleman's class, began to inject its own values into the gentleman's culture and reject ideas that were contrary to their own interests.
This made the gentleman culture begin to develop in the direction of modernization.
1. The Formation of Modern Gentleman CultureIn the evolution of modern gentleman culture, the connotation of traditional gentleman's spirit has changed. Because bourgeois business requires qualities of rationality, moderation, and steadiness, and chivalric romanticism, such as valor and sacrifice, conflict with their pursuit of profit.
Thus, traits in the interests of the bourgeoisie gradually replaced some of those found in the traditional gentleman's culture. This can be said to be the first step of the bourgeoisie into the gentry class.
The initial steps have been completed, and the next step is to prepare for a large-scale entry. The main obstacle for the bourgeoisie to enter the gentry class on a large scale is the criterion for judging the gentry.
The traditional gentleman had to be of aristocratic origin, which had a detrimental effect on the bourgeoisie, which did not have hereditary titles. Even these bourgeois people, who call themselves "gentlemen", their status is not fully recognized.
Thus, under the impetus of the bourgeoisie, innovation and enterprising spirit became one of the virtues of the gentry class, which emphasized the acquisition of status through the creation of wealth, rather than relying solely on hereditary status to possess it.
With personal struggle and business success, it has become the criterion for judging gentlemen, clearing the obstacles for the promotion of the bourgeoisie to the gentry class, making the bourgeoisie smoothly become the backbone of the gentry class.
With the development of gentleman culture, noble conduct has become the standard for measuring gentlemen, creating a new image of gentlemen. The bourgeoisie absorbed the pursuit of the traditional aristocracy, such as the admiration of land, wealth and its own development, and the respect for freedom, while also retaining the aristocratic temperament of female respect, culture, politeness and noble character in chivalry, coupled with its own moderation, rationality, enterprising and pragmatism, and finally formed the image of the English gentleman that we are familiar with.
3. Why do English gentlemen always carry umbrellas? The image of the English gentleman's clothing has not changed much, and we often see the image of them holding an umbrella in literature or film and television works.
This is not just because of the humid climate in the UK, but also because of their unique traditions. In fact, the umbrella was supposed to be a replacement for the cane, the "staff of civilization". In England, gentlemen had a long tradition of carrying the rod of civilization, but this was not because they were weak and needed crutches, but to show the grace of the nobility.
Holding the staff of civilization can ensure that the pace is neat, maintaining an elegant posture, and at the same time showing a calm temperament. In addition, the staff of civilization can also be used as a temporary ** to help gentlemen protect themselves and maintain their gentlemanly demeanor when encountering ugly phenomena.
As a result, the staff of civilization became an indispensable item for the traditional English gentleman.
Why did English gentlemen stop carrying canes and use umbrellas? This is mainly due to the climatic conditions in the UK. The UK has an oceanic climate with changeable weather and frequent sudden heavy rains.
And for busy bourgeois gentlemen, they often need to travel for long periods of time, which undoubtedly increases their likelihood of being exposed to rain. And the appearance of umbrellas just met the needs of gentlemen.
Since the umbrella is easy to tighten, it is effective in preventing rain from getting wet, and its shape is similar to that of a walking stick, which is both practical and beautiful. When umbrellas were easily tightened in 19th-century England, the cane was replaced.
Of course, there are also those who question: wouldn't the gentlemen get wet in the rain before the umbrella appeared? The answer is yes. The reason why English gentlemen choose to wear top hats is to protect them from the rain.
Even in heavy rain, they don't get too embarrassed by the rain when they wear top hats. This proves once again that the clothing of the English gentleman was heavily influenced by climatic conditions.
The culture of the gentleman first originated from the culture of the aristocracy, and it continued to evolve in the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy, and it took a long time to form our current image.
However, the gentleman's culture we know is still stuck in a few hundred years ago, and with the changes of the times, the current gentleman's culture has penetrated into the daily life of the British people, abandoning complicated etiquette and dress, and retaining excellent qualities such as aggressiveness, politeness, and respect for women.
As long as we are of good character, everyone can be a gentleman. Reference: Cai Ying, "*British Gentleman Culture", Journal of Huzhou Vocational and Technical College, No. 2, 2007.
Tian Xuejun et al., "A Study on the Culture of British Victorian Gentlemen", Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, No. 5, 2013. (Author: Haoran Literature and History, Leaf Wind) Haoran Literature and History is a high-quality author of literature and history on the mainstream platform of the whole network.
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